Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Idk what to do... i have practised & my hubby has tried showing me how to get my new bike onto it's centre stand, but i just can't do it!!

Its a ZZR250, i'm 159cm short, but can move the bike around ok enough, but just can't seem to get the hang of getting it up onto the stand, does anyone have any tips or advice? My hubby's technique (that i've been trying to do, unsuccessfully) is to stand on the left side of the bike (cos no room in the garage to do it on the other side) & put my right foot on the centre stand & push it down until its touching the ground, then rock the bike slightly until i feel both 'feet' of the centrestand equally level on the ground, then, holding with right hand on grab handle on back of bike, & left hand on left handlebar, simultaneously pull the bike up & push/stand on the centre stand with my foot, & the bike should go up by itself.... does not happen for me!! I dont know what i'm doing wrong, i do all of that, but nothing happens, the bike lifts up by 1-2cm, & i'm practically standing with my right foot on the centre stand, but it wont work! & i'm a fairly strong girl too (short but stocky, doh!) so i'm thinking it must be technique!

Use your hands to steady the bike only, if the centre stand is constructed correctly it will have a place to put your foot so that weight on that part of the stand will push/lift your bike up and backwards onto the stand.

snakeyez82 wrote:My hubby's technique (that i've been trying to do, unsuccessfully) is to stand on the left side of the bike (cos no room in the garage to do it on the other side) & put my right foot on the centre stand & push it down until its touching the ground, then rock the bike slightly until i feel both 'feet' of the centrestand equally level on the ground, then, holding with right hand on grab handle on back of bike, & left hand on left handlebar, simultaneously pull the bike up & push/stand on the centre stand with my foot, & the bike should go up by itself.... does not happen for me!!

That sounds ok to me although I wouldn't bother with the hand on the handlebar, lifting the bike at the same time as pushing down on the stand is the way to go, it also works for putting my Race bike on it's race stand!

Sounds like you just need to put (even) more muscle into it. The hubbys advice is correct

Once you get it, you get it forever, and with every bike.

I always used my left foot
I'm right handed but kick with the left though

Your hubby's advice sounds spot on, there's a 'difficult' bit as the bike approaches the high point of sitting on the feet before it falls back slightly and goes past that point. Try also pulling the bike backwards as well as up on the rear. I find that the closer that the grab point is to the midline of your body, the better leverage you will have and it will be easier to get the bike on the stand.

I've tried using left foot on the centre stand and right hand on the body of the bike, but that's never worked for me and i always revert to right foot, right hand. The best comparison of a body action for your foot and hand is imagining you were trying to open an extremely stiff roller door on a garage. Pushing down with the foot and levering up with the hand, so to speak.

Took me a little while to get it myself, but now i can do it easily. The only time i have problems is when the bike has a flat tyre, it just means more brute force is needed.

you are probably already doing this but remember your not "lifting" the bike, you should be pulling it backwards and lifting a little while holding the stand in place.

Centre stands can be awkward things, but are quite handy

try on a slight incline with the front wheel a bit higher than the back. should be easy and you can see what the right motion is. very little effort when you get the hang of it.

Hmm, thanx for all the good advice everyone! Last night i tried it again, & still can't do it!! I tried pushing it back & up, i tried standing on the stand thing as hard as i could & rocked the bike at the same time, nada!! Then hubby helped me, & i had my foot on the stand, & left hand on the left handlebar, then i rocked the bike & he lifted/pulled the grab handle on the back, & up it went on the stand!
Btw, i'm a lefty, i write with my left, but do pretty much everything else with my right, as its my stronger side. It feels like i'm not strong enough to do it, but that can't be right, cos i've seen women my size putting 600s, etc onto centre stands, so if they can do it, then i should be able to as well!

Get yourself, your hubby and some alcohol and have a bit more of a practice!

Stand on the centre stand as hard as you can..............
The harder you put your foot on the stand, the easier it is to get up. Or get a new hubby with some more mussle.........

Maybe if someone else can show you maybe their approach will "click" with you.

My advice is to step with most of your weight on your right foot HARD and FORCEFULLY, and then keep your weight on it and keep pushing, don't concentrate on the hands, but your foot.

My offering is remember to put "all" your weight on the foot that is holding the stand to the floor, then face towards the back of the bike, then lift with hands and push down with your foot that is on the stand, "should" come up alright then, does take some practice to get the hang of it usually.

well I can certainly say that it's not just you.. the zzr that I got is MUCH harder to get on the centre stand than the 500... even tho the zzr is quite a bit lighter.. I'm guessing since its smaller there is less leverage and therefore it requires more force?

not something I was expecting anyways

hahaha, thanx for the advice everyone, altho not sure that alcohol would help, probably just hinder!

I've been trying to get the bike on the stand using all of the above methods mentioned (except the alcohol one!) but still not working. I tried to put hubbys ZZR600 on its centre stand & ALMOST did it! Also realised that half of the centrestand foot lever-peg thingo is worn off on my bike, as the previous owner had an off on it & we've replaced a few things on it, but didn't notice the worn peg til the other day. Hubby can put it on the stand, but said that my bike is harder compared to his bike, possibly cos of the size & less leverage (i think GPZ_Jim is on the right track there), and maybe cos i'm short & hes taller than me. So either i just give up, or maybe get a new (2nd hand i mean) centrestand that has the foot lever-peg intact, not sure if that'll help though. Any other females out there that find it hard to put their bike on it's centrestand?? Just curious.